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☆ How to Squeeze a Feminist Farce Into an English Country House
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Laura Collins-Hughes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The play is like a musical. This play and this cast require that in a very similar way, but there’s nobody keeping a drumbeat, and there’s nobody playing a melody. So we need to learn how to blend in with the scenery in moments and pop forward in moments. We need to figure out which mole, and when, do we pop out of the hole. No matter what the format is, whether it’s musical theater comedy or whether it is absent of music, there’s still music to it.

Persons: JASON ALEXANDER, LILLI COOPER We’re, BUNDY, there’s

☆ SNAP could close the food insecurity gap between Black and white households, study finds. But researchers say there's so much more that could be done.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new study shows that access to SNAP benefits reduces the racial gap in food insecurity. Black and multiracial households have had higher food insecurity rates than white households over the last 20 years. While Black households had 20% higher food insecurity rates, they were 46% more likely to participate in SNAP than white households. For those not enrolled in SNAP, Black and multiracial households respectively had a 52% and 42% higher risk of food insecurity than white households. When accounting for household characteristics, Black households enrolled in SNAP had a lower rate of food insecurity than white households.

Persons: —, Laura Samuel, Samuel, that's, Gina Plata, Heather Taylor, ., Nino Organizations: SNAP, Service, Black, Nutrition, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Social, Nino, Food Research, Action Center Locations: . Plata, Plata

☆ Opinion | The Nature of Joy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Joy is not a given in the natural world. The baby rabbit I watched cavorting in the pollinator garden was almost certainly born in the nest next to our backyard brush pile. I have seen no other survivor from that litter, and their mother is still the lone adult rabbit in the yard. I think the ever-present threat my wild neighbors live with must tell us something about the nature of joy. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Persons: Rascal, haven’t, —, Margaret Renkl, ” Organizations: New York, Facebook, Twitter Locations: Virginia, Eden

☆ How Local Officials Seek Revenge on Their Hometown Newspapers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Emily Flitter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two of the most powerful women in the village of Delhi in central New York sat face to face in a brick building on Main Street for what would become a fight over the First Amendment. It was the fall of 2019. Tina Molé, the top elected official in Delaware County, was demanding that Kim Shepard, the publisher of The Reporter, the local newspaper, “do something” about what Ms. Molé saw as the paper’s unfair coverage of the county government. Ms. Shepard stood her ground. Not long after, Ms. Molé struck where it would hurt The Reporter the most: its finances.

Persons: Tina Molé, Kim Shepard, Molé, Shepard Locations: Delhi, New York, Delaware County

☆ Meta is playing a game of whack-a-mole with the Taliban as the isolated Afghan government increasingly attempts to use WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption for official business
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The New York Times reported Taliban government officials increasingly use WhatsApp to communicate. WhatsApp owner Meta is engaged in an uphill battle to block the accounts in order to comply. Taliban officials then try finding workarounds to access the app, like buying new SIM cards and creating new accounts, prompting a cyclical cat-and-mouse game. It remains unclear what proof Meta officials require that a WhatsApp account is associated with a Taliban user before blocking them. WhatsApp, in particular, has long faced criticism from law enforcement groups (and praise from data privacy experts) for its standardized end-to-end encryption.

Persons: Meta, —, Shir Ahmad Burhani, WhatsApp, James Comey, Comey Organizations: New York Times, Meta, Times, Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, US Patriot, FBI Locations: Afghanistan, California, Baghlan Province

☆ An engineer dubbed 'the Mole Man' spent 40 years digging tunnels under his London home. After it was abandoned, an artist transformed it into a subterranean studio.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Matthew Wilson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

After buying it in 2012, artist Sue Webster spent five years renovating it into a home and studio. But did you know there was once a real-life Londoner known as the Mole Man? After he was evicted from the property in 2006, Mole House was left abandoned until 2012, when it was sold at auction. It was bought by British artist Sue Webster, who renovated the 2,700-square-foot house into a personal studio and award-winning home with architects Adjaye Associates. Here's the intriguing history of London's Mole Man and what became of his home.

Persons: William Lyttle, Sue Webster, — Organizations: Service, Adjaye Associates Locations: British

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday took aim at Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC accuses Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao of operating a "web of deception". The SEC said Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities that should have been registered, including tokens such as Solana, Cardano and Polygon. Reuters GraphicsFounded in 2012, Coinbase recently served more than 108 million customers and ended March with $130 billion of customer crypto assets and funds on its balance sheet. Tuesday's SEC lawsuit seeks civil fines, the recouping of ill-gotten gains and injunctive relief.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Kevin O'Brien, Ford O'Brien Landy, Coinbase, Nansen, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's, Ed Moya, bitcoin, Oanda's Moya, Dado Ruvic, Gary Gensler, Gensler, Kristin Smith, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Kevin Buckland, Leslie Adler, Christopher Cushing Organizations: YORK, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Global Inc, Exchange, REUTERS, Securities, Supreme, Beaxy Digital, Bittrex Global, CNBC, Blockchain Association, Reuters Graphics, U.S, Binance's U.S, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Solana, Cardano, bitcoin, Binance, Binance.US, Binance's, Cayman Islands, New York, Washington, Tokyo

The flooding has already killed 300 animals at the Nova Kakhovka zoo, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Satellite images show a close-up view of the Nova Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power facility before and after the dam collapse on June 6, 2023. Satellite images show homes along the Dnipro River before and after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed. Several Ukrainian regions that receive some of their water supply from the reservoir of the Nova Kakhovka dam are making efforts to conserve water. Local residents carry their personal belongings on a flooded street after the Nova Kakhovka dam collapsed, in Kherson, Ukraine, on June 6.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Ihor Syrota, ” Syrota, ” Olena, Alina Smutko, Ruslan Strilets, Strilets, António Guterres, Vladyslav Musiienko, Martin Griffiths, Griffiths, ” Griffiths, Zelensky, Oleksandr Prokudin, Maxar Technologies Griffiths, Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Heidarzadeh, Vladimir Saldo, Rafael Grossi, ” Grossi Organizations: CNN, Reuters, Reserve, Nova, Ukrainian Defense Ministry . United Nations, ”, UN Security, Dnipro, Maxar, Maxar Technologies, University of Bath, Science Media, Russian Foreign Ministry, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, UN Locations: Nova, Ukraine, Russian, Kyiv, Moscow, Russia, Dnipro, Kherson, Reuters Ukrainian, Zaporizhzhia, England, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi

☆ Restaurant Review: Foul Witch Summons the Ghost of Blanca
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Pete Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The nearest I’ve come to answering these questions has been eating at Foul Witch, a five-month-old Italian restaurant in the East Village owned by two of the founders of Roberta’s and Blanca. Roberta’s is, of course, the Bushwick restaurant known for its artfully charred pizza, its Tiki Disco parties and the radio station that broadcasts programming about food from its backyard. Blanca is a 12-seat bunker in the same backyard that has been closed since the early days of the pandemic. Agnolotti would burst with molten taleggio turned green-black by powdered phytoplankton that tasted like the bottom of the ocean. Dry-aged duck breast would be grilled slowly over Japanese charcoal and served with beet mole, as earthy and smoky as an underground fire.

Persons: I’d, Carlo Mirarchi Organizations: East Village Locations: East, Blanca, Roberta’s, Bushwick

☆ Crypto crackdown: Is there anywhere safe left for crypto investors in the US?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“Look, we don’t need more digital currency,” Gensler told CNBC on Tuesday. “We already have digital currency: It’s called the US dollar. Many crypto investors appear to be abandoning so-called “alt-coins” and sticking with the relatively more reliable OG virtual currency, wrote Ed Moya, a senior market analyst with Oanda. Bottom line: “The SEC looks like it is playing Whac-A-Mole with crypto exchanges,” Moya wrote. Because of that, crypto investors will have to decide whether they are confident that the offerings on various exchanges will remain available to trade.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Binance, ”, Matt Levine, I’ll, Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, Gary Gensler, ” Gensler, “, It’s, Crypto, TD Cowen, Reena Aggarwal, Aggarwal, bitcoin, Ed Moya, ” Moya, —, you’ll Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, CNBC, Georgetown, Psaros, Financial Markets, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Oanda Locations: New York, United States, “, cryptos

"(This) creates a very good defending position for Russians who expect Ukrainian offensive activity,” Matysiak said. Russia has denied responsibility and accused Ukraine of sabotaging the dam to deflect from what Moscow said were Ukrainian military failures. "For Russians the reason to do it would have been to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive, obviously. For Ukraine, the breach might have provided a way of distracting the Russians while Kyiv launches its counteroffensive, she added. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for International Security at the Chatham House think tank, said the situation helps Russia even if the Ukrainian counteroffensive later makes inroads.

Persons: Ruslan Strilets, Ben Barry, Maciej Matysiak, ” Matysiak, Strilets, Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Heidarzadeh, Dmytro Kuleba, Marina Miron, Patricia Lewis, they're, Aiden Nulty, Ben Tavener, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kyiv, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Stratpoints Foundation, University of Bath, Civil, Engineering, University of Warwick, Reserve, Nova Kakhovka, King's College, International Security, Chatham House, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Dnipro, Kyiv, Nova, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kherson, Crimea, Britain, London

☆ How music lawyers are crafting a new playbook to protect artists from AI imitators
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Copyright and right of publicity laws are top of mind for entertainment attorneys as AI songs surge. Here are four key takeaways from a recent panel on AI music hosted by the law firm Manatt. But the precise manner that AI-generated music, trained on a human artist's body of work, could violate copyright laws is still being defined. Streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube will play a big role in AI's futureThe sheer volume of AI songs spit out onto streaming platforms could create detection challenges for rights holders. Music platforms like Spotify and YouTube could set limits on how much AI music spreads, the attorneys said.

☆ Chinese apps remain hugely popular in the U.S. despite efforts to ban TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

But while TikTok has been the one in the spotlight, other Chinese apps that present similar issues are also experiencing massive popularity in the U.S. Gorman said as the U.S. considers the threat posed by TikTok, it will also need to develop a framework for how to evaluate the relative risk of Chinese apps. But in the meantime, U.S. consumers continue to turn to Chinese apps. "And then of course, there's the early growth of Lemon8, which suggests that the appetite for Chinese apps in the U.S. is still growing." And some say the most effective long-term solution for curbing the use of Chinese apps may be fostering an environment for robust alternatives to grow.

☆ An OnlyFans creator and single mother of 4 explains how she made $196,000 in less than a year on the platform — and how she uses cooking and Spanish lessons to promote her account
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chloe Sasha started on OnlyFans in July 2022 after quitting her job as a receptionist. Her "Cooking with Chloe" series is one of the ways she attracts people to her OnlyFans accounts, where she directs followers for more explicit content. Chloe started on OnlyFans in 2021, focusing mainly on her free page at first, and began actively posting on her paid account in June 2022. She also tries to post as much as possible on Instagram stories, chronicling her day or linking to new OnlyFans content. Chloe's top platforms outside of OnlyFans are Instagram (233,000 followers), TikTok (159,800 followers), and Twitter (27,400 followers).

☆ Despite TikTok ban threat, influencers are flocking to a new app from its parent company
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

However, they denied rumors that ByteDance had paid creators to promote the new app on TikTok. Still, the app lacks some standard social platform features such as messaging and the option to tag other users in posts. Lemon8’s userbase remains a far cry from the 150 million users TikTok says it has in the United States. By launching a new app even with TikTok in the spotlight, “ByteDance clearly doesn’t feel like they’re at risk,” Lewis said. Even if TikTok and Lemon8 were banned, Cruz said, “I already have a following on all the other platforms.”

☆ Nearly 300 Arrested in ‘Dark Web’ Fentanyl Crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sadie Gurman | Dustin Volz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

‘There is a bit of a whack-a-mole problem here, and we are whacking as hard as we can,’ Attorney General Merrick Garland said. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON—International authorities have shut down an online marketplace and arrested nearly 300 people who allegedly used it and other parts of the so-called dark web to buy and sell fentanyl and other dangerous opioids, in a sweep officials said underscores how hard it is to stem the tide of drug trafficking in the internet’s hidden corners. The operation went on for more than 18 months and spanned three continents, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Law-enforcement agencies also seized more than $53 million in cash and virtual currencies, along with guns and nearly 2,000 pounds of drugs.

☆ Veracruz state: Home of the flying Voladores, Mexico's top coffee and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Tim Leffel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Voladores of Veracruz in Mexico have a history that goes back at least 1,400 years. “The flying ritual has never had a learning age, it is a project of a lifetime,” he says. Nearly all of the Voladores train in or around Papantla, where the flying schools prepare young people to take over for those who are eventually aging out. Coffee, ancient ruins and an overlooked capital cityMen with ankle ropes flying deftly around a pole are not the only export from this state, though. The big draw, however, is Mexico’s second most important archaeological museum after the one in Mexico City.

☆ Jamie Dimon is vying to take control of First Republic Bank, report says, after JPMorgan steered clear of SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

First Republic Bank is set to be taken over by regulators as soon as Sunday. JPMorgan and PNC are frontrunners to acquire the ailing bank, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jamie Dimon might have avoided getting involved in a rescue of Silicon Valley Bank, but it appears that the JPMorgan CEO is preparing to swoop on ailing First Republic Bank. First Republic is worth 97% less than it did before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed last month. Dimon's active involvement in First Republic contrasts his decision to steer clear of any rescue for Silicon Valley Bank.

☆ TikTok ban is the least palatable of options
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Montana is following a movement around the United States to try to keep Americans from using TikTok. That has consequences: The United States has never pulled a platform used by so many people to communicate. China, which before TikTok had never cracked the U.S. market with a successful social media network, is unlikely to let ByteDance part with TikTok. More recently the company had been working with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to ease concerns. TikTok users in the United States could still binge on short videos, but the company – and its rivals – would face tougher constraints.

☆ 'I do TikTok to rip people off.' Videos produced in China are hawking scam products to millions, FT reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

They're pedaling products like fake weight loss coffee and acne medicine, the FT found. The FT said in its report that it had flagged 25 products in TikTok's UK marketplace; TikTok said those products have since been removed. TikTok, meanwhile, told the FT that it "has strict policies to protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading content," including advertisements. Mo told the FT that he was joking; he couldn't be reached by Insider. In a statement to the FT, TikTok said it "has strict policies to protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading content," including advertisements.

☆ RESTRICT Act explained: proposed TikTok ban is 'a PATRIOT Act for the digital age,' some lawmakers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The RESTRICT Act, a bill that could ban TikTok nationwide, was introduced in the Senate last month. GOP Senator JD Vance of Ohio called the bill proposal "a PATRIOT Act for the digital age." But the RESTRICT Act — touted as a way ban TikTok nationwide — would do far more than prevent users from accessing an app known for its viral dance routines and conspiracy theory videos. "This will directly improve our national security as well as safeguard Americans' personal information and our nation's vital intellectual property." Even those who support a TikTok ban, such as Senator JD Vance of Ohio, don't see the RESTRICT Act as an appropriate solution.

☆ The viral new ‘Drake’ and ‘Weeknd’ song is not what it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —One of the buzziest songs recently circulating on TikTok and climbing the Spotify charts featured the familiar voices of best-selling artists Drake and the Weeknd. But there’s a twist: Drake and the Weeknd appear to have had nothing to do with it. The viral track, “Heart on my Sleeve,” comes from an anonymous TikTok user named Ghostwriter977, who claims to have used artificial intelligence to generate the voices of Drake and the Weeknd for the track. The original TikTok video has seemingly been taken down, and the song has since been removed from streaming services including YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. Taryn Southern’s debut song “Break Free,” which was composed and produced with AI, hit the Top 100 radio charts back in 2018, and VAVA, an AI music artist (i.e.

☆ Intel leaks: Biden says US 'getting close' on investigation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The number of documents leaked is likely to be over 100. Biden, on a three-day tour of Ireland, said he was not overly concerned about the leak. "There's a full blown investigation going on, as you know, with the intelligence community and the Justice Department, and they're getting close but I don't have an answer," Biden told reporters. "I'm not concerned about the leak, I'm concerned that it happened but there is nothing contemporaneous that I'm aware of." A South Korean presidential official said on Sunday the country was aware of reports about the leaked documents and planned to discuss "issues raised" with Washington.

☆ Podcast: Abortion drug battle and the U.S. government mole hunt
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

We break down the legal tussle over the abortion drug Mifepristone. What happens next now that a Federal judge has taken the drug off the shelves? What are U.S. security services most concerned about in the leak of intel documents? And why neither Taiwan nor China has it in their best interest for conflict to break out. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Trump's 27-minute speech in Mar-a-Lago after his arrest sounded like a man 'griping to you about his bad divorce,' Chris Christie says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Christie said the speech made Trump sound like a man "'griping to you about his bad divorce." Chris Christie says former President Donald Trump's fixation on the past is getting tired and overblown. During an April 9 appearance on ABC's "This Week," Christie commented on Trump's post-arrest speech at Mar-a-Lago — a defiant, 27-minute, campaign-style address to rally the MAGA faithful. No way," Christie told Axios. Christie told Fox News on March 23 that he will "probably make a decision in the next 60 days on what to do or not to do."

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